After the New Year's party, Ally and Aiden can't seem to keep their hands off each other. The passion between them is at an all-time high. Every time they're alone in the house, they end up in the bedroom having sex.

Ally has only a few more days before she heads back for the spring semester. She's decided not to transfer since it'll be next to last semester. She's anxious to get into student teaching. She spends time with Cassie back home in Nitro out shopping. That's when she lets something slip.

"Hey, can I tell you something? It's been bugging me for a while now. I have to get it off my chest." Ally blurts out while they try on clothes.

"Oh my gosh, please tell me you're not pregnant!" Cassie shouts from the other changing room.

"Of course not, but it does involve Aiden. I don't know how to tell him this because I've been saying it, and I don't wanna hurt him."

Intrigued, Cassie is all ears. "I'm listening..."

Ally huffs in frustration and breaks down almost in tears.

"He loves me, but I don't love him at all. I mean, I still really like him, but it's not getting past that. I don't wanna hurt him."

"Do what?"Cassie is in utter shock.

"I don't know what to do, and I thought after we had sex, it would change, but it's not. I am confused as hell." Ally takes a seat on the stool inside the dressing room.

"Wow, you're doing a damn good job fooling everyone. Me included, but if you don't love Aiden, then you need to tell him and not drag this along."

Ally continues loudly from the dressing room.

"Why don't I love him? He's such a great guy. Kind, caring, considerate, he listens to me, but I feel empty inside, and it's just so unfair."

Ally beats herself up internally as the anguish flares out of control.

"Well, honey, all I can say is be honest with him and let him go."

"I don't want to, though. That's just it. It's all there, the butterflies, the kissing. I still see sparks; I love it when he holds me. The sex is fantastic. I just can't seem to give myself to him." Ally clinches her fists as they tremble with confusion.

"Girl, I ain't got a clue. I've never been in that situation and what makes it worse is you're right. He's head over heels in love with you. Maybe it will come. Just give it a little more time." Cassie suggests.

They gather their selection; the girls take their items, check out, and then head out to eat.

Pulling into the gas station, Ally sends Cassie a text.

Hey, I need gas, so I'll meet up with you at McDonald's.

After she drops her phone, Ally climbs out of her car and begins pumping fuel. She places the handle back onto the pump. She's about to head inside to pay and bumps into an old friend of her sister's.

"Ally, Allyssa Newman..." The tall, tanned stranger wonders, stopping dead in front of her.

"Yeah...Oh my...Sammy Curtz... Is that you?" Ally is instantly smitten with his military haircut and build.

"Yeah, just got home from the Navy. I saw your sister not too long ago. She said you're in college to become a teacher. That's awesome, and you're even prettier now than you were when you were a kid."

Unable to contain it, she blushes at the compliment.

"Hey, why don't you gimme your phone and I'll put in my number. Maybe I can take you out for lunch or a movie sometime." Sam offers.

"That sounds nice, but I have a boyfriend, sorry."

"Lucky guy, well, keep me in mind to least kick it with someday. I could always use a friend." They hug and go their separate ways.

When Ally pays for gas, she hurries to catch up to Cassie waiting for her.

"About time!" She scolds her, getting out of the Tiburon.

"Sorry, I bumped into Sammy Curtz when I got fuel..." She's interrupted immediately.

"Oh hell no, girl, you leave that player alone. He's not changed at all, plus my mom told me that he got kicked out of the service for selling dope."

Ally shrugs her shoulders, "He can still be a friend, plus he's hotter now than he was when he was in high school with my sister. You know I've always had a crush on him."

"No! Anyone but him and Aiden doesn't deserve to be done that way. Not by you."

Ally goes off, "Oh yeah, like you're anyone to talk to. You've slept with more guys since going to college than probably live in all of Nitro put together."

Standing there with her lower lip curled and hurt by the insult, Cassie can see how her best friend feels.

"So there's your empty spot filled. Have a good life, you fucking bitch."

"Cassie, wait...I'm sorry..." Cassie pulls her keys out and gets into her car, leaving Ally standing there.

"Ah damn it!" Allyssa screams and eats alone.

She texts Cassie almost nonstop and apologizes with every message.

Cassies drives over to Sam's home, where he grew up. Cassie parks in the middle of the street and catches him at the gate.

"Hey, cocksucker!" She screams at the top of her lungs.

"Oh great, the white whale of Nitro High returns."

"Fuck you! Listen up, asshat, don't you dare do anything with Ally or screw anything up between her and her man. I will come back to beat your ass myself. I know how you are with women. I'll be damned if you hurt her as you did, my friend Linda. You're a man whore, and she deserves better."

Sam stands there smiling.

"That tells me all I need to know then. If I can get Ally and claim her as my own from the guy she's with, I guess she doesn't need him that much. Thanks, loudmouth, now get lost before I call the cops."

Pissed off, Cassie lunges toward Sammy as he takes off inside, slamming the door in her face.

"You pussy!" She screams, "You're still nothing more than a baby back bitch!" She kicks the door and takes off.

She's about to merge onto I-64 when she finally picks up when Ally calls. "What?" She answers rudely.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said." Ally tries to explain.

"Let me tell you something. If you ever end up with Sam, I will not talk to you again. I mean it, he's a bitch boy from hell, and you would be dumb as fuck if you even think about giving him a chance over Aiden."

To calm the situation, Ally brings up a point that gives Cassie a little peace of mind.

"If that was the case, would I be taking Aiden to my sister's wedding next weekend? Maybe after that, it'll make sense to me, okay."

"Fine, but don't do anything stupid is all I ask. You're my best friend, the sister I never had and always wanted. I couldn't stand to see him hurt you. I love you, Ally." Cassie begins to break down in crocodile tears.

"I'm with Aiden. Flat out, nothing else is going to happen, I swear."

Putting her phone on speaker so she can wipe away the tears, Cassie feels something still isn't right in the pit of her stomach.

"I hope so, it's hard to find anyone good to you in this world anymore, but I gotta go, bye Ally."

Ally closes her flip phone and shoves it into her pocket.

"So, did she buy it?" Sammy asks as Ally takes a seat on his bed.

"I think so, but listen, as right as this feels, I have to end it with my boyfriend first. I don't wanna cheat on him." Ally explains as a wave of guilt crashes over her body.

"That's cool. I get that, but I can't even get a little peck on the cheek?"

Ally rolls her eyes and leans in, but at the last second, Sam twists his face to kiss her on the lips. She tries to fight through the temptation to give in, but her body reacts as she melts to the point that she puts her arms around his neck, leaning more into the kiss.

Suddenly her phone goes off. That snaps her out of the trance.

"You asshole, I have to go..." Ally cries out as her eyes begin to fill with tears of guilt.

"Hurry back. There's plenty more where that came from hot stuff." Sam flops back on his bed, ready to take Ally's body.

Ally rushes out to her car and tears herself up inside to the point she's about to vomit.

"What the hell did I just do? I can't tell anyone. I almost cheated on Aiden. Geez, am I that slutty that I was about to let him get his way with me right there?" She asks herself out loud when she opens her phone to see Aiden text to say he's free from work.

Hoping to override her guilt, she sends him a message that she needs to see him.

"Cool deal, if you want, I can pick up pizzas and wait on you. Love -A-" she reads out loud.

I am on my way, love ya love bug, see you soon. She replies before she starts the car and feels horrible about what she's done.

Pulled up to the house, Ally nearly forgets her keys and makes sure to leave her phone in the car in case Sam calls or texts while she's with Aiden.

"Hey, there, sweet thing..." That's all Aiden can get out before Ally tackles him to the floor.

"I've missed you!" She squeals, running her hands under his shirt.

"I've missed you too. Don't you wanna eat before we do this?"

"No, I need you now, right now!" She sits up, takes off her coat, and heaves her bra off as Aiden scoots out to get undressed.

She guides him over to the recliner, where she shoves him down and takes her place on his lap. In her mind, she's trying to get the experience with Sam out of her head.

She still sees Sam in Aiden's place and how she wants to let him take advantage of her. She grinds harder and harder as her mind races with the images repeatedly until she can't take it anymore and screams in pure ecstasy. Ally forces Aiden to reach his climax. She grips him tightly, so the guilt doesn't fade a bit in her mind.

"Wow, talk about upping the ante," Aiden comments, holding her unaware of anything.

"Yeah, I told you that I needed you, I love you, I love you, I love you..." She repeats continuously to convince herself that this is where she belongs.

"I love, love, love you too." He says playfully.

They sit there for a few minutes as Ally does her best to conceal the demon torturing her mind with lust.

"Aiden, why are you so good to me? I don't deserve you."

"What's that about? Of course, you deserve me. You're my girl, and I love you for who you are. Honest and caring, you're the sun in the sky on my dreary days. You make me smile at the thought or sound of your name. There isn't a day that goes by that you don't continue to mean more to me."

Sniffling hard, she digs her head more into his chest as the guilt cracks the dam holding back the pain.

"Hey, baby doll, what's the matter?"

Lying through her teeth, Ally reacts without hesitation.

"That's beautiful, and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than here with you. Let's get dressed and eat. I guess I'm just an emotional mess, you know, with my sister's wedding coming up and all."

Aiden snickers and doesn't sense anything at all.

"I can understand that, but who knows, maybe it'll be our turn one day. Then you can really be a mess and rely on Cassie or your sister to help you through it."

Ally shakes her head, knowing better, and doesn't say how she truly feels.

Maybe, I hope so..."

Aiden makes a mistake and takes that as a hint that maybe she's ready for more.

"Well, since Valentine's Day isn't long from now, what do you say I take you to dinner. We just take a night to relax to ourselves. A hotel room with a jacuzzi and we turn everything off and enjoy ourselves."

Ally forces herself to go numb before she snaps from the shame over her heart, "Yeah, sure, make it happen..."

The couple gets dressed and then heads to the kitchen to eat.

Ally finishes up the dishes and tries to get a grip on herself. She looks back over to Aiden at the table, wiping it down before pulling out the sheet music to continue on some new material.

"You talk to the guys about singing yet?"

"Yeah, we've discussed it, and we're gonna vote on it over the weekend."

"That's a good thing. What about gigs? Get anything booked yet?"

Aiden begins tapping his fingers on the table.

"Well, they've finally gotten the first song down pat, and it's improving. Maybe by spring or early summer, we'll hit up some open mic nights."

That's the motivation she needs to fuel her escape. "Really, you've had all this time, and you've done jack shit. Come on. You're better than that! Quit wasting your talent."

Caught off guard, Aiden wonders what caused the outburst.

"Well, sweetie, we only practice on Friday evenings and Sundays, we wanna move it to Saturdays, but we do have lives, you know."

Ally scoffs at the reasonable excuse, "Whatever, fine, here's a solution, until Valentine's Day, go get in the extra practice time, and don't bug me until you learn another two songs. God, you'd think someone as talented as you would be able to do better."

Aiden's annoyed now by her attitude.

"Hang on a damn minute. I feel scolded because I'd rather spend time with you than work on a hobby to relieve stress. What's the deal?"

That's the notion she needs to explode, "Nothing, Jesus Christ, Aiden. All you do is drag your feet! You know what, though, since you're acting like an ass about it, I'm going home. Love you, see you later."

Ally takes off, rushing out the door, and nearly forgets her coat.

"The fuck did I miss there?" He asks himself, taking out a new sheet of paper to write a different song in a matter of an hour.

Over the next couple of days, phone calls and texts become vaguer. Ally makes any excuse possible to stay pissed at Aiden to justify spending more time with Sam after class. She denies it to Cassie and lies straight to her face when she comes home that weekend.

"Hey girl, where's Aiden? He's going to miss the wedding."

Ally continues to make excuses for his absence

"Oh, we've been fighting all week, so he's not coming. Besides that, he's taken that band stuff more seriously now, so don't worry about him."

Something doesn't add up, but Cassie keeps an eye on Ally throughout the ceremony and reception. She takes notice that Ally smiles when texts keep flowing in on her phone.

"Making up with Aiden, are we?"

"Yeah, sort of; he's goofy now." She types her next message and closes her phone.

"I hope so. Any plans for V-Day?"

Ally again visits the deed of deceit, "Yeah, we're going to a hotel for a jacuzzi suite. You know the usual sex, food, and alcohol."

Cassie feels a bit jealous.

"Lucky bitch, but good that you're both going to work it out."

Ally rolls her eyes, wanting to ditch the subject.

"Hey, enough about my love life. Can we focus on the fact we're here supposed to celebrate my sister's wedding?"

Cassie puts her hands up to signal she won't say anything else and walks away as that knot in her gut continues to tighten.

Aiden and the boys during that time work on the latest song that's been written.

"Damn, man, you wrote this one pissed one. I like it, and we need a better tone." Dakota says, placing the new sheet music out in front of him.

"Yeah, well, Ally was a bitch when I wrote this one. She's pretty much ignored me ever since. Maybe I'm paranoid, but she's acting like there might be someone else."

"Whatever, bro-man, she's crazy about you, someone else, oh please, can we get down to business. One, two, three, four..." Eddie calls out, knocking his drum sticks together to begin practice.

While they continue to work section by section on the new material, Aiden's gut begins to tie up with the same knots that Cassie experiences since Sammy entered the picture.

He tells himself that everything's fine, but the little voice in the back of his mind won't shut up long enough to allow him to focus on much else.

As everything begins to twirl out of control, Ally finds her chance to disappear from the reception. She gets to her car and takes off to head over to Sam's new apartment.

Ally lowers her guard enough to feel guilty about being more intimate with him. A mistake that she believes won't catch up to her.